"Sheep manure application increases soil exchangeable base cations in a" by YuGe ZHANG, Shan YANG et al.

Article Title

Sheep manure application increases soil exchangeable base cations in a semi-arid steppe of Inner Mongolia

Authors

YuGe ZHANG, 1 State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;2 Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Eco-remediation, College of Environment, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
Shan YANG, 1 State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;2 Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Eco-remediation, College of Environment, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
MingMing FU, 1 State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Yong JIANG, 1 State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaFollow

Abstract

The long-term productivity of a soil is greatly influenced by cation exchange capacity (CEC). Moreover, interactions between dominant base cations and other nutrients are important for the health and stability of grassland ecosystems. Soil exchangeable base cations and cation ratios were examined in a 11-year experiment with sheep manure application rates 0–1,500 g/(m2•a) in a semi-arid steppe in Inner Mongolia of China, aiming to clarify the relationships of base cations with soil pH, buffer capacity and fertility. Results showed that CEC and contents of exchangeable calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+) and sodium (Na+) were significantly increased, and Ca2+ saturation tended to decrease, while K+ saturation tended to increase with the increases of sheep manure application rates. The Ca2+/Mg2+ and Ca2+/K+ ratios decreased, while Mg2+, K+ and Na+ saturations increased with increasing manure application rates. Both base cations and CEC were significantly and positively correlated with soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil pH. The increases of SOC and soil pH would be the dominant factors that contribute to the increase of cations in soil. On a comparison with the initial soil pH before the experiment, we deduced that sheep manure application could partly buffer soil pH decrease potentially induced by atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur. Our results indicate that sheep manure application is beneficial to the maintenance of base cations and the buffering of soil acidification, and therefore can improve soil fertility in the semi-arid steppes of northeastern China.

Keywords

base cation; sheep manure; soil pH; soil fertility; buffer capacity; grassland conservation

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-015-0004-5

First Page

361

Last Page

369

Recommended Citation

ZHANG, YuGe; YANG, Shan; FU, MingMing; and JIANG, Yong (2015) "Sheep manure application increases soil exchangeable base cations in a semi-arid steppe of Inner Mongolia," Journal of Arid Land: Vol. 7: Iss. 3, Article 8.
DOI: 10.1007/s40333-015-0004-5
Available at: https://egijournals.researchcommons.org/journal-of-arid-land/vol7/iss3/8

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